Seesaw.



E. HARDY.

SEESAW.

APPLICATION FILED sEPT.-23. 1915.

Patented July 4:, 1916.

3 SHEETSSHEET I.

A TTOR/VEYS WITNESSES.

E. HARDY.

SEESAW.

APPLICATION FILED sEPT.23. 191s.

Patented July 4, 1916.

INVENTOR [EM/Pa /7 /7/?fi) By J V ATTORNEYS 3 SHEETSSHEET 2 E. HARDY.

SEESAW.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT.23, 1915. 1,189,942.

PatentedJuly 4, 1916.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

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a 62 /7/ f I WITNESSES:

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,4 TTORIVEYS UNITED STATES PATENT orrron.

EDWARD HARDY, OF CANTON, MISSOURI.

SEESAW.

Application filed September 23, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD HARDY, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of Canton, in the county of Lewis and State of Missouri, haveinventedpertain new and useful Improvements in Seesaws, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in amusement and recreationdevices, and more particularly tosee saws, one object being to provide asee saw which can be readily operated by children.

A further object is to produce a see saw that may be loaded at theground, elevated and caused to oscillate from the seats of the see saw.g

\Vith these and other objects in view, my invention consists in certainnovel features of construct-ion, arrangement and combination of parts aswill be hereinafter described and pointed out in the claims, referencebeing had to the drawings, in which Figure 1 is asectional elevation ofthe device; Fi 2 is a top plan view; Fig. 3 is a side elevation, partlyin section, of a portion of the upper part of the device; Fig. 4 is avertical section on line 44 of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a transverse verticalsection on line 55 of Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the clutchlever for swinging the teeter frame.-

Referring more particularly to Fig. 1 of the drawing, A representsstandards or uprights, which may be removably mounted in a concrete orother suitable base B. There are two sets of standards, spaced apart andparallelas shown in Fig. 2, the sets being connected at their tops bythe cross bar C. A bearing block D is mounted to slide up and down onthe standards at each side, and journaled in the upper ends of saidblocks are the ends of a shaft E having mounted near its ends but insidethe standards, the cog wheels F, said wheels being keyed to said shaftE. Adjacent to the cog wheels-F and loosely hung on the shaft E are theswinging arms G having each a hook G at its upper end and an extension Gbelow the shaft E terminating in a balance weight G At about the centerof the shaft E is mounted a clutch lever consisting of a handle rod H,loosely journaled at H on the shaft E and provided with a springactuated boltH passing through an angular bracket Specification ofLetters Patent.

Patented July 4, 1916.

Serial No. 52,171.

H and controlled by a bell crank lever H pivoted to the lower or handleend of the lever. This bolt is adapted to engage the notches of adownwardly projecting segmental rack I which is hung on the shaft E at Iand rigidly keyed to said shaft. EX- tending in opposite directions fromthe lever H and longitudinally of the entire device are the arms Jhaving eyes at their ends to which are attached the ends of ropes orrods K, said ropes or rods extending outwardly in opposite directionsand crossing at about the center of the device. These ropes aresupported by a short rope K suspended from horizontal bar near the seatso that the rope cannot drop to the ground. These ropes or rods are ofsuch length as to eX- tend to the seats L which are pivotally suspendedby rods L from the outer ends of a see saw or teeter frame comprisinghorizontal side bars M and cross bars M. At the central portion of theseside bars and to the under face of the same are secured the racks Nwhich rest on the cog wheels F, :constituting a movable fulcrum by meansof which the center of gravity of the see saw may be changed.

To prevent the racks from passing entirely off the cog wheels F, thereare proivided near each end the downwardly projecting stops N. From theends of one of the racks thearms l 2 project upwardly, each having aneye n at its free end; in each eye is secured one end of a rod 0, theother end of said rod being attached to one end of a coil spring 0, theopposite end of which is attached to the upper end of verticallydisposed bar 0 a pair of which proj ect upwardly from the sliding blockD. Secured to the cross bars M at about the center are bearings P toreceive a shaft Q, having at one end and adjacent one of the seats thehand wheel Q. The opposite end of the shaft Q, carries a sprocket wheelQf on which runs the sprocket drive chain R which in turn drives thelarger sprocket wheel S mounted on shaft S mounted in bearings securedto the outside beam of the teeter frame.

On shaft S is the worm S meshing with the worm wheels S on shaft Smounted in bearings at each end of the see saw frame. As shown in Figs.1, 2 and 5, this shaft S serves as a Windlass upon which are wound thecables T which passing over the pulleys T suspended from the cross bar Cnear each side of the device, are fastened to the side beams of theteeter frame at T as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

It will be noticed that the cables T are arranged in a set and spacedapart from each other on the shaft S and that the cables are extended toopposite sides of the teeter frame, so that upon winding said cables onthe Windlass shaft S the see saw or teeter frame will be lifted evenlyand smoothly without bending at any point, and that by unwinding thecables the frame M may be again lowered to a point where the seats orcars may be conveniently unloaded, or loaded as the case may be, thesaid seats during their operations resting on the ground. The oliice ofthe springs O is to check the momentum of the see saw frame and also toserve as a buffer.

The operation of the device is as follows: Assuming the frame M to be inthe position indicated in dotted lines, Fig. 1, the seats L are loadedwith the passengers. From the right hand seat the hand wheel ismanipulated and through the medium of the gearing between said handwheel and the vindlass shaft S the cables I are wound on said shaft andthe frame M is elevated by virtue of the blocks D sliding upwardly onthe standards or uprights A until the noses of the hooks G contact withcross bar G when they are pushed to one side and then drop back upon thebar C, the weights C swinging and holding them in place. The rope K atthe right hand side is now pulled by means of hand hold 70, whereuponthe shaft E will be turned to the left and with it the cog wheels Fwhich, meshing with the racks N on the under face of the side beams ofthe see saw frame, cause the frame M to travel toward the left by virtueof the center of gravity of the frame being shifted, the left end of theframe will overbalance the right and commence to descend. This descentwill be gradual and smooth, due to the influence of coil springs O, andthese springs also tend to prevent the end of the frame oscillating toofar. The rope K at the left side of the device is now pulled, it beingpulled to the left'. This turns the shaft E to the right, and with itthe cog wheels F. This restores the frame to its normal position atfirst, and continued pull causes the frame to travel to the left beyondthe normal center of gravity and the right end of the see saw descends.These operations are continued as long as desired, during which time thesee saw or teeter frame will be continuously oscillated.

Another particular function of the segmental rack I and the looselyswung lever H is to get a perfect balance after seats are loaded. At thebeginning of the ascent it can be determined in which direction thehorizontal arms must be shifted and after being put in perfect balanceby lever H the lever can be put back in its proper position which isperpendicular. .Vhen it is desired to disembark, an occupant from oneseat pulls rope K to release hooks G, while at the same time theoccupant of the other seat turns wheel Q, enough to allow releasing ofthe hooks G from the cross bar (1.

The seats or cars will always be main tained in proper position becauseof being swung by the links or bars L. It will thus be seen that Iprovide a simple yet effective see saw device, one which can readily beset up and taken down and one which is easily operable by children aswell as by others.

I claim:

1. A see saw device, consisting of a horizontally disposed oscillatoryframe, central supporting means for the same, means carried by the framefor elevating the same, on the supporting means, and means carried bythe frame for causing oscillation of the frame when elevated.

2. A see saw device consisting of a horizontally disposed oscillatoryframe, parallel uprights at opposite sides of the frame, blocks slidablymounted on said upri hts, a shaft connecting said blocks and rotatablymounted therein, cog wheels mounted on said shaft, rack bars on theunder side of the frame and meshing with the aforesaid cog wheels, andmeans for causing reciprocal oscillation of the cog wheels whereby suchoscillation will cause longitudinal movement of the frame to oppositesides of its normal center of gravity.

3. A see saw device consisting of parallel side uprights, a cross bar atthe top thereof, bearing blocks slidably mounted on said supports, ashaft rotatably mounted in said bearing blocks, cog wheels rigidlysecured to said shaft, an oscillating teeter frame having rack bars onits under side meshing with and supported on the cog wheels, swinginghooks mounted on the aforesaid shaft and adapted to engage the top crossbar of the uprights and hold the teeter frame in elevated position, andmeans for causing oscillation of the cog wheels to impart reciprocalhorizontal movement of the teeter frame to opposite sides of its centerof gravity.

l. In a see saw device, the combination. with uprights carryingvertically slidable cog wheels, and means for reciprocally rotating thesame, of an oscillatory teeter frame having rack bars engaging said cogwheels.

5. In a see saw device, the combination with vertical side uprights, across bar connecting the same at the top, bearing blocks slidablymounted with respect to said uprights, a shaft revolubly mounted in saidblocks and connecting the same, cog wheels rigidly mounted on saidshafts, an arm extending from said shaft, pulling means secured to saidarm, a teeter frame having rack bars at its sides resting on the cogwheels, swinging hooks carried by the aforesaid shaft and adapted toengage the top cross bar, and windlass mechanism carried by the frameand engaging with the cross bar to raise and lower the frame and theslidable blocks.

(3. In a see saw device, the combination with a horizontally disposedoscillatory teeter frame, parallel uprights at opposite sides of theframe, blocks slidably mounted on said uprights, means carried by saidblocks for supporting the frame at its center, and resilient cushioningmeans interposed between the oscillatory frame and the bearing blocks.

7. In a see saw device, the combination with said uprights, verticallyslidable bearing blocks mounted thereon, a shaft connecting said blocks,segmental cogs rigidly mounted on the shaft adjacent the uprights, atwo-part clutch lever suspended from said shaft, arms projectinghorizontally from said lever in opposite directions, an oscillatoryteeter frame, having rack bars on its under side engaging and resting onthe aforesaid cog segments, seats or cars pivotally suspended fromopposite ends of the oscillatory frame, and pulling means attached tothe projecting arms of the lever in opposite directions and extending toadjacent the aforesaid seats or cars.

8. A see saw device consisting of a pair of spaced apart uprights and across bar connecting the same at their upper ends, bearing blocksmounted to slide vertically on said uprights, a shaft journaled in saidblocks, cogged members rigidly mounted on said shaft, a two-part clutchlever suspended from said shaft, arms projecting in opposite directionsfrom said clutch lever, cords or rods secured to the ends of said armsand crossing each other extending in opposite directions, a teeter framecomprising side and cross beams and seats swingingly suspended fromopposite ends, rack bars on the side beams of said frame and resting onthe aforesaid cogged members, a Windlass mechanism carried by the teeterframe and guided by the top cross bar of the uprights, whereby the framemay be raised and lowered on the uprights, and resilient meansinterposed between the frame on the one hand and the slidable block onthe other, and adapted to act as a cushion buffer when the frame isoscillated in one direction and as an auxiliary starting mechanism forthe opposite oscillation.

EDWARD HARDY.

Gopie: of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner or new, Washington, D. C."

